CITY MANAGER’S BUDGET MESSAGE
TO:
HONORABLE MAYOR AND CITY COUNCIL
FROM:
OLIVER CHI, CITY MANAGER
Honorable Mayor and Members of the City Council:
I am pleased to present to you the Adopted Fiscal Year (FY) 2023-2025 Two-Year Budget and corresponding Five-Year Strategic Business Plan for the City of Irvine. The Biennial Budget and Five-Year Plan are built upon the City Council’s strategic priorities and provide a long-term policy framework and financial plan to deliver high-quality programs and services to our community. Over the last year, the City has come together as One Irvine in an extraordinary way to address the recovery from the COVID-19 pande mic and the continued growth of Irvine. In particular, we’ve spent considerable time working to implement our team-oriented values of serving with Humility, Innovation, Empathy, Passion, and Integrity. We are confident that this focus on values has aided the development of a healthy and vibrant workplace culture here at the City. The pandemic had unprecedented and significant impacts on the City’s revenues and operations, as well as on our residential and business community. In prior fiscal years, the pa ndemic’s financial impacts were lowered thanks to City Council and staff’s quick implementation of cost containment measures to hold expenditures while maintaining essential services. This strategic approach and strong economic recovery led to a healthy financial standing in FY 2021-22, resulting in a surplus that was used to replenish contingency reserve levels, invest in the aging City’s infrastructure, and pay down increasing pension costs. In the current fiscal year, strong revenues continue to pave the way for the City’s financial stability due to Irvine’s growing housing market and population, as well as new developments and businesses entering Irvine. We have faced challenging fiscal environments and have come out stronger as key City revenues have surpassed pre-COVID-19 levels and the City can focus on improving and enhancing essential services for the community. To continue delivering outstanding services to our residents, businesses and visitors, the City’s leadership team developed a thoughtful budget that compliments the City’s strong fiscal foundation. As the City faces new challenges ahead, such as possible slowdowns in the volatile economy, we will move forward together as One Irvine and continue to strive to serve the community with passion and exceptionality. City’s Comprehensive and Participatory Budget Development Process The City starts the budget development process early, with internal data analysis and projections beginning in October, including receiving the community’s input and pri orities through an online budget outreach survey. Meetings are also held with key subject matter experts including financial experts, consultants, and business partners to develop five- year financial projections. In January, the City’s departments begin putting together their budgets, followed by internal balancing measures to provide fiscal sustainability. In March, the City continued its budget outreach efforts by hosting in-person community budget meetings and presenting the preliminary budget to the public, while taking in additional input and answering questions. Following these meetings, a balanced budget is finalized and presented to the Finance Commission in April, other Commissions in May, and to the City Council in June. Upon City Council approval in June, the two-year budget goes into effect on July 1, 2023, with quarterly financial updates and budget revisions each year, as necessary.
FY 2023-25 Adopted Budget
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